U.S. Watch

Updated June 21, 2011 12:01 a.m. ET

ARIZONA

Favorable Weather Is Seen

In Fight Against Wildfires

Firefighters battling a series of raging fires in Arizona are expected to fare better this week following a difficult weekend in which fierce winds grounded aircraft, preventing them from throwing retardant on the flames, officials said Monday.

"There's no expected weather events the next few days," said Kristy Bryner, a public affairs officer for the U.S. Forest Service. "We have a chance to get on top of it now."

The slightly improved outlook comes as Arizona Sen. John McCain, on a tour of the Wallow fire in northeastern Arizona, set off his own firestorm over the weekend by saying illegal immigrants crossing over the border caused some fires.

On Monday, Mr. McCain's press office clarified that the senator wasn't referring to the Wallow fire, which is more than 200 miles from the Mexico border, but rather to fires on the border.

Forest Service officials said they hadn't determined specific causes.

—Alexandra Berzon

GRAND CANYON

Temporary Ban Extended

On New Uranium Mines

The Obama administration extended a ban on new uranium mine stakes around the Grand Canyon by six months, and said it supports a 20-year ban on new claims, federal officials said Monday.

The extension keeps in place a one-million-acre buffer on public lands around the Grand Canyon National Park to give federal officials more time to study the impact of a 20-year ban. A temporary ban, instituted in 2009, was set to expire next month.

The ban doesn't close existing mines. And mining claims made before 2009, when a temporary ban was instituted, will be allowed to proceed. But no new mining claims will be approved while the ban is in place, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said.

The announcement from Mr. Salazar was immediately criticized as a job-killer that continues the nation's reliance on energy imported from abroad.

—Tamara Audi

NEW YORK

With Letter, Weiner

Makes Resignation Official

Anthony Weiner submitted his formal resignation letter Monday, saying he would no longer be a member of Congress starting Tuesday.

In a brief, two-sentence letter to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York Secretary of State Cesar Perales, Mr. Weiner officially ended his term. The letter comes nearly a month after a photo sent on Twitter led to an uproar that soon exposed his sexually charged online conversations with about six women.

"I hereby resign as the Member of the House of Representatives for New York's Ninth Congressional District effective at midnight, Tuesday, June 21, 2011. It has been an honor to serve the people of Queens and Brooklyn,'' Mr. Weiner wrote.

Mr. Weiner announced last Thursday that he would leave Congress as a result of the scandal. A special election is expected to be set for the late summer or fall.

—Devlin Barrett

TRADE

Lawmakers Make Progress

On Job-Loss Benefits

Democrats and Republicans have "substantially" narrowed differences over restoring benefits for trade-related job losses, as both sides work toward beginning informal debate on free-trade agreements, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Monday.

Mr. Kirk said in an interview that the administration would still prefer to complete talks on the job-retraining program before preliminary work begins on trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.

But he said growing momentum toward a deal to restore funding for the Trade-Adjustment Assistance program means the administration "is in a good place" to work with Congress on draft legislation that provides Congress with an opportunity for input before the trade deals are formally submitted for an up-or-down vote.

—Tom Barkley

KENTUCKY

Men Trapped in Mine Freed

Three mine-maintenance workers were freed and appeared to be in good health Monday after being trapped for 14 hours in a flooded southeastern Kentucky mine, officials said. The men became trapped in the mine near Middlesboro when a collapse at the entrance sent water from a swollen drainage ditch gushing in.

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